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12/5/2023 8:10:43 PM
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Let's talk about Hunters
I'll start with some background info to hopefully avoid the "skill issue" and "get gud" replies here, but short version...I'm a VERY experienced PvE player (6x gilded Conquerer, raid sherpa, master raid clears, Guardian Rank 11 in every season it's been available, solo/flawless dungeons, etc.). I'm no SaltAgreppo, but I'm not the blueberry making you rage quit LFG raids, either. I'm a Hunter main, but I play all 3 classes. This post is primarily in regards to endgame content.
Ok, that out of the way, let's chat about Hunters. They don't feel good right now, and they haven't for some time. I'll try to shorten this to bullet points to avoid writing a novel:
- No class identity. We're supposed to be all about mobility, but we get outpaced and outjumped by both the other classes with regularity due to air moves, burst jumps, shoulder charge, etc.
- Resilience rework with Witch Queen unfairly impacted Hunters. It's pretty much required to have high Resil, so we're forced to choose between fast recovery or high mobility, a problem made worse by the fact that our class ability is the only one that offers little to no defensive advantage.
- The main benefit of our dodge is to refund melee energy, but it requires being near enemies. This brings me to the next point...
- Nerfing Restoration, Devour, Woven Mail, AND orb generation all at once all serve to unfairly impact Hunters. Before you rush to your keyboard to defend your class, think about it...on Void, Warlocks still get Devour on ability kill (no orbs required), and Titans have overshield on demand *with* a barricade to boot. On solar, Titans are a Sunspot/Resto factory, and Warlocks are the only ones able to get Resto x2. On Strand, Warlocks get WeaveWalk, thereby giving them better invis/survivability than Void Hunters AND still keep massive damage output. And don't even get me started on Banner of War Titan.
- The orb generation mod nerf unfairly impacts Hunters. Powerful Attraction felt like it was custom-made to help level the playing field for Hunters. We don't have a Barricade that can withstand boss attacks and stays on the field for long enough to fully heal. We don't have a rift. We have a lousy dodge that is only beneficial when up close and personal, but we don't heal quickly enough for that strategy to be viable on anything above at-level content because we were forced to spec into mobility and resilience. Being able to consistently generate and pick up orbs with our dodge to activate Recuperation, Devour, and Woven Mail was the ONLY thing that helped compensate.
I'm not looking for Hunters to be as ridiculously overpowered as Banner of War Titans (I think that build is single-handedly ruining the game, btw). I just want the game to feel balanced again. Right now, even the seasonal activity has me feeling like my Hunter is made of paper. I went from being able to clear The Lightblade on GM difficulty without dying to getting nuked in Legend difficulty Nightfalls. Something has to change, and if it doesn't, I might have to switch classes. =(
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10 RepliesEdited by The Legend Himself: GONZO: 12/6/2023 8:10:37 PMI’m genuinely baffled that you feel this way. You seem like a genuinely good player and your writing, with the necessary caveats, shows that you’re fairly rational and intelligent. With that being said, I think Hunters are easily the easiest class to build into and very powerful. I’m interested to see why we differ in opinions so much. Like you, I too play all three classes fairly evenly and have end-game accomplishments that rival your own, though you probably edge past me in certain regards. Here are some key take-aways for why I feel the way that I do. (FYI, I typically run 100 Mobility, 100 Resilience, and 80-100 on whatever other ability I’m focusing on, based on my subclass and/or equipped exotic.) 1. Solar: Incredible power and utility. I always run a healing grenade for on-demand healing and supplement the lack of offensive grenade with Gunpowder Gamble for absurdly powerful and insanely fast uptime grenade damage. I also run Recuperation, Ember of Searing & Ember of Mercy for never-ending Firesprites for healing. 2. Arc: Powerful one-and-done super. Combination blow & Lethal Current are a powerful combination (no pun intended) paired with Spark of Resistance & Lethal Current with Flow State. I also use Recuperation for further survivability. 3. Void: Incredible support super with absurdly fast cooldowns (especially if paired with Orpheus Rig) and on-demand invisibility for moving to safety to recover health or run past enemies. 4. Strand: Incredible mobility with double Grapples. Paired with Cyrtarachne’s Façade, you have constant Woven Mail that can be continuously refreshed. Or, constant suspend with The Sixth Coyote and two Shackle Grenades via Widow’s Silk & Ensnaring Slam. 5. Stasis: … … … Well, Renewal Grasps are good…ish. lol. Okay, Stasis needs help. All jokes aside, Renewal Grasps with Touch of Winter, Grim Harvest, Whisper of Durance, Whisper of Chains, Whisper of Conduction, and Whisper of Rime makes you hard to kill.
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1 ReplyFinally some reality. I haven't found a decent solar build on hunter yet besides Celestial / lucky pants. Yes, you can build into things but titans and warlocks have a so much easier time. Way more subclass variety etc. Yes there's gunpowder gamble which can be dangerous when too close to it. I don't mind either way, lucky pants with Wardens law, another solar wep and Dragons Breath is alotta fun but in higher tier content it's hard to not have anything for your team and only a healing nade. Forces you to run a demo wep I'm not hurting or anything really, it's fine either way. However just wanted to put in my 2 cents ; as many youtubers are crapping out videos saying hunter is insane rn etc etc but it's just a beefed up super , the class feels rather boring and they removed the weapon stability from marksman hunter.
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3 RepliesIDK about under performed I did 8.2 mill on new dungeon final boss with Mal and packy pants
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1 ReplyEdited by Machine_DNA: 12/6/2023 11:59:50 AMI agree with some of your earlier points regarding resilience etc but do disagree that they’re underperforming. Here is a brief list of builds that I have consistently found great for GM’s etc and some have even got better this season and last. 1. Renewal Grasps - the addition of Wicked Implement plus the grenade cooldown revert and stasis buffs have made this even better and I was using it before. 2. Lucky Pants - I think maybe the most consistent high end loadout. Deal great damage when you don’t have heavy and against large health opponents. You can even run any subclass although I’ve always leaned towards void due to invis and the utility that has. 3. Assassins Cowl/one-two punch shotgun - this loadout performs amazing in all content and what I use to solo things like a dungeon. Healing, invis, high damage and an ability loop not reliant on orbs or even cooldowns. Passive damage super for dps or even ad control. The most versatile hunter set up in my opinion. 4. New celestial champ killer - nothing too fancy and one I’ve not used loads yet but I see a celestial hunter melting bosses and champs and healing nades, radiant and benevolence all help ability cooldown and survivability. 5. Omni - tried and true. Turn allies and yourself invis and speed run sections or simply cycle it to stay safe. Nothing fancy but very reliable. 6. Invis Aeon - generate heavy for your team and help clear room more woolly due to the abundance of heavy ammo. Slightly less good now due to Cenotaph Warlocks but this is maybe my most used loadout currently for D2 although previous ones see more use now. Invis finishing and looping back to invis ensures safety when creating ammo and virtually unlimited heavy makes most encounters fairly straight forward.
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1 Reply100% agree maybe unite the class ability for resilience? and then everyone will decide for themselves what they need, but I don’t think this will happen because of new armor 3.0, why then will mobility be needed at all, and yes, it does not affect the speed of movement in any way 😸 I’m also a main hunter, and if I’m doing difficult content, I take another class…
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1 ReplyBeen a hunter main since D1. The latest changes just feel bad.
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1 ReplySpeaking of PVP only, its so much bs with how no matter what you do you are getting beat to sniping lanes or engagement alleys. Its so wild that with the strand grapple slash melee movement, I get there literally a fraction of a second faster than a well lock or sentinel titans with 10 or 15 mobility, yet now they are even so much more meta because they move so fast and have no need to spec into mobility and have 100 resil and 100 recov. I've had to eat into my mobility to get my resil to atleast 6 so I dont get devoured alive by thorn. Dont even get me started on the YAS nerf. That is literally the only thing that made getting to sniping lanes even doable, yet the shadebinder warlock can throw bleak watchers/ cold snap grenades like they like candy. Yet titans still have Peacekeepers which are basically Stompees for Titans. The overshield on demand has got to go, I know hunters can get them but how many hunters are really running nightstalker in trials. Its literally a bs super against bubbles. They've really jacked up hunters to the point where pvp isnt fun anymore, like it ever was. Sorry for the vent and run on sentences but its just bs.
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2 RepliesIt should be either or. Either we have the mobility of a recon class, or, we have more survivability. Same for the other classes tho as well. I play a lot of pvp, I’m not as good as I used to be as I get older but I always laugh when a titan or warlock is able to get to a lane way before me, even with bouncing along ceilings. That’s probably my biggest frustration with the game as well, is there’s a lot of reliance on movement in the meta these days, but the class that has to spec into mobility has the least to gain from it. Truly a clown world
